Creative Crochet Patterns

As you can see the postman called again today. There is still no sign of the Interweave Crochet that was posted on the 29th December nor of my Amazon parcel. I was chatting to the postman and he said there is still a backlog of post and he has been delivering Christmas cards to people this week that were obviously posted before the 25th December!

Today's delivery is some more patterns from Kay Jones. I have put the link to Creative crochet on here so if you click on my blog title it will take you there. I am especially fond of her patterns as she uses UK terms for the patterns which means that I don't have to convert the stitch names in my head all the time that I am crocheting as I do when I use a US pattern. You have a choice whether the patterns get posted out or are sent as a PDF. I think that I have more than half of her baby crochet patterns now so I am ready for the next wave of babies.

At the moment I am knitting a baby cardigan from a vintage Patons baby pattern that I bought recently from Sue West The Vintage Knitting Lady
www.thevintageknittinglady.co.uk
I used to have this pattern many years ago, I lent it out and of course never got it back so I was glad of the opportunity to buy another copy. I was also pleased to see that I could still buy some Baby Quick Knit. I bought this Sirdar version from Purplelinda but sadly she only stocks it in white. It is a nice weight for babies. Thicker than a 4ply but finer than a double knit. This little jacket is for the Kings Arms barman's new baby to be. I don't know why but I find vintage patterns a lot easier to follow than today's modern patterns.

Last night I went to the Kings Arms Knit Club. There were 4 new knitters that came to join us last night. It's nice when young people are eager to learn. Rachael was doing the teaching. I didn't join in as I do knit and cast on slightly differently to Rachael and I think that it is confusing if learners have more than one teacher at first. I was chatting to a few of the regular club members. Roger brought his crocheted cowl for us to see and Rachael brought the lovely knitted wire and bead bracelets that she has been making. They are very pretty. I might try one out soon but I would need a magnetic fastener as my fingers just don't work well enough for the normal clasp bracelet fasteners. One reason why I rarely wear jewelry is that I can't do fasteners and have even had to sleep in necklaces and bracelets until I can get someone to help me out of them.

I hope to finish off the little white matinee jacket today and will probably start another one tonight.

Chunky Jackets For The Girls

I have finished off both of the chunky jackets for my Great Grand Daughters. I am really pleased with the way that these have turned out. The pattern is Sirdar 2273 and I made these jackets with 3 x 200 gram balls of James C Brett Marble chunky Shade MC12. I thought that each jacket would take 2 balls each so I have an extra ball left over. I have a couple of hat books in the post from Amazon so when they arrive I will check through them to see if there is a hat pattern that I could make to go with these jackets. I have plenty hat patterns but just wanted something different. I bought the wool online from Purplelinda.

The weather is not too bad today. Still a bit chilly but at least the sun is trying to shine and it is a much brighter day than yesterday.

I am starting a baby jacket next as I am going to the Kings Arms knit club tomorrow (weather permitting) and want to give the bar man a jacket for his new baby to be. I did start one last night but as it is yoke down and every row different I gave up as I was watching programmes linking famous people to Wales. I like programmes that trace ancestry back and would love to have that done for me someday. I lack the patience to do it for myself.

I had a bit of a lazy start to the day but it is Sunday, the day of rest. I think that I will just get a coffee and pick up the baby knitting instead of doing any housework. I loathe housework and admit to doing only the very necessary. If I was rich I would employ a cleaner that's for sure as hoovering wrecks my back for hours afterwards, especially the stairs. I think that I will wish for a housework fairy. Does anyone know where they live?

Inside Crochet 14

The postman brought me a magazine this morning. I hoped that it was my Interweave Crochet that seems to be missing in the post. I bought a subscription from a UK vendor and they posted it off on the 29th. They have kindly said that they will post me out another copy if it doesn't arrive soon. Things are taking a long time in the post so perhaps I should not be so impatient. I still have an order from Amazon outstanding and some ink for the printer lost in space somewhere.

Today it was the latest copy of Inside Crochet issue 14. I have put a few photos on the blog but as there are 13 patterns inside I could not put them all on the blog.

The Tangle Twister scarf by Helda Panagary is sure to be a favourite with lots of people. I am not keen on anything so ruffled but then I am more of a plain accessory type of girl.

I do love the Cherry Wrap by Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby. Once again long and droopy wins me over. I am not on my own in liking this pattern as I noticed that there is a CAL ( Crochet a long) on Ravelry being set up for this garment. There has been errata printed for this pattern and it is listed on Ravelry. If anyone is thinking of making this jacket I would check that out first. I have ammended my magazine already.

The Artichoke hat by Linda Permann is really cute and makes me wish that I had a 'hat face'. Hats look lovely in the magazines and on other people but I have to make 3 or 4 hats each season before I get one that I feel reasonably comfortable wearing. I have a small head and very fine hair so any head hugger beanie make me look like small head, big body! Years ago I used to have a man made fur bonnet that tied under my chin and that was the only hat that ever suited me. I wish that I had kept it now.

The Bud Sweater by Lesley Arnold-Hopkins is very wearable. At one time I woud have made it in those vibrant colours but these days I would tend to make it in subtler colours. Nice to see a square neckline for a change.

The Dotty Hand warmers by Tara Murray are interesting. Two colours makes them more out of the ordinary than normal ribbed or plain crochet wrist warmers and give the impression on being knitted. I keep thinking that I will make myself a pair of wrist warmers to wear over fine gloves when I am out and on their own in tn the house on very cold days.

My elder niece fell in love with the green Fern Cowl by Claire Montgomerie. I wish that I had probed what kind of colour she would have liked and then I could have made her one for a surprise. The stitch reminds me of the Blue Curacao shawl by Doris Chan which, as you can tell from my projects, is one of my favourite shawls to make as a gift.

The Victoria Scarf by Robin Chachula is very pretty and would appeal to one of my nieces and the teenager from next door. As I have mentioned before although I admire fancy things on other people I tend to wear much plainer things myself but would make this scarf as a present for someone.

Other items in the magazine that I didn't take photos of are a crochet flower corsage, a motif afghan, filet place mats, a crochet flowery necklace, a felted bag and a sweater with flowers crocheted into the pattern.

The DVD of 'It's Complicated' was a Christmas gift from my younger niece. It was ordered before Christmas and was a casualty of the postal system. It only arrived at the beginning of this week so there is hope for my missing magazine and online orders. Hopefully everything will arrive on Monday. Fingers crossed.

Time for a coffee before I start cooking something for my dinner. Tonight it is meatballs in a tomato, garlic and onion sauce. I will probably team it up with spaghetti. Unfortunately I don't have any mozzarella cheese to go with it. I will make a big pot so I will be on meatballs for a couple of days unless I freeze the remnants.

I have to stitch up the second chunky jacket and then knit the button borders and the collar then both of my Great Grand Daughters jackets will be finished. I hope to have photos of them to show you tomorrow

Shrugs For The Girls

I am still knitting the second jacket for my Great Grand Daughters but I found that I must have been sitting awkwardly as my back and shoulder were really sore. I decided to take a break and crochet them a couple of shrugs with some stash wool instead.

The pattern worked up very easily and is from a pattern from Ravelry called Shortie Sweater by Lisa Van Klaveren. It is moderately priced and is sized up to an adult size. The ones I made are 24" and took a little over 100 grams for each one.

Whilst on the subject of patterns I have been having some requests in my comments (which I haven't published) asking me to send copies of patterns that they have seen on my blog. If they are free patterns I will gladly provide the link and if they are my own design then I will try to write down what I did. The other patterns are from current books and magazines which are for sale. Not only would I be contravening copyright rules by sending the pattern to them but I would also be taking away money from these books and magazines. Yes I do know that books are expensive but if we all copied patterns and didn't buy the books then it would be our fault if there were fewer and fewer crochet books and magazines to buy. As most of my fellow bloggers know and appreciate I post the photos so that they can see the contents and then decide whether to buy the book or the magazine for themselves. I do it because I know that I would appreciate seeing the contents before I bought as it would have saved me from buying books that I don't really like.

The snow is falling again so I am glad that I managed to go shopping yesterday. I am going to batten down the hatches, make myself a cup of coffee and get on with my knitting.

The Postman Brought Goodies

The postman came this morning and brought my order from Purplelinda. As my younger niece had admired her black cardigan so much I thought that I would get some wool in advance as it is her Birthday on the 2nd April. For a change from black I have ordered her some Patons Diploma DK in charcoal grey. I have yet to decide on a pattern but I wanted to give myself plenty of time to knit something as her elder Sister has a Birthday on 3rd April.I also want to make her something. My Sister in Law must be a creature of habit to conceive two daughters ,supposed to be born on the same day, 3 yrs apart. The only other time I have known this is my friend who had a 2nd daughter on her other daughter's 1st Birthday. I suppose that it saves on the parties when they are younger. One party each year for both of them.

I treated myself to the Mission Falls goes crochet book. I had admired a couple of things on Ravelry and found that they were in the same book so although it was pricey (as a lot of US leaflets are over here) I decided to get it. I like most things in the book although I don't think that the cover sweater is one that I will be making for myself. It's a bit too openwork for me but yet being in an aran thickness too warm to wear in the Summer and yet too short sleeved for a Winter sweater even over a T shirt. I don't like wearing something with short sleeves over a long sleeved T shirt.

I can see the Hydrangea crop being popular with a lot of younger people and my nieces would probably wear it if I made it perhaps an inch or two longer to reach the waist. I have always liked the Hibiscus Car Coat in Ravelry projects so that is a possibility for myself, My elder niece says that I always like wearing things long and droopy. She is right. It hides a multitude of sins. I am carrying far too much weight at the moment for things too fitted or too short.

Although I like the Daisy Snow shawl it is a no,no for me as I have a thing about circles. I just cannot seem to link them together right. They pucker or slant and end up losing my temper. As crochet is supposed to be relaxing I steer away from anything circular.

The Gladiolus Cardigan is another 'me' cardigan. I like a close stitch as it reminds me of knitting but with all the quickness of crocheting. I am not sure that I would add the sleeve tab detail though.

I like the way that the Blue Iris has a little tab at the waistline. It gives it the illusion of some shape at the waist. I think though that I would make the tab in the same colour as the sweater.As this is sleeveless I would wear it over a fine sweater or long sleeved T shirt.

The Granny Flower purse is not for me. I am not a lover of knit or crochet handbags although I know that plenty of people are. It's probably because I am not much of a sewer and I think that they need a fabric lining to be practical.

I love the multi coloured hat but the scarf is not for me. I also like the Rock Wrap but would have to alter it slightly so that it didn't fall off the baby's shoulders quite so much. I am not sure how to alter it. Maybe the band is just too large for the wrap and that is what is making it fall from the shoulders. I will have to look on Ravelry to see other peoples projects.

I love the little boys sweater but not sure about the high neckline with a zip. It would have irritated my son when he was small so I would probably opt for a couple of buttons for a closure and a slightly shorter neckband. I wouldn't make the Green Machine Truck as unless it was well padded most boys would sit on it and flatten it. My son would have got annoyed that the wheels didn't turn around.

Although I don't crochet for any men I can see that this Granite Tread vest might be something that would actually get worn by a man. More of a zipped body warmer.

I also subscribed to Crochet! magazine but as it is digital I can't show you any of that. I do prefer the paper versions of magazines but I couldn't find a place in the UK that I could subscribe to it from. The beauty of ordering digitally is that I also got access to 2 yrs worth of back issues as well as the 6 copies that I have paid for. Needless to say I didn't do much knitting or crocheting yesterday as I was to busy browsing 2 yrs of magazines. I have found quite a few things in them that I like.

I have managed to finish one of the girls knitted jackets and it is blocking out. I will start the second one tonight. It hasn't taken me long as it is mostly plain and is in chunky.

We had a wee bit of snow today but it isn't sticking. It has left the road very icy though and if it freezes tonight then it will be like a skating rink tomorrow. Luckily I have enough food in for a few more days.

Happy New Year

Sorry that I am a few days late with my New Year greeting but the last couple of days sort of ran away with me. After Buster went back home again on New Years Day I was feeling very tired as I had been up in the night at least once with him all the time that he was with me. When I get tired then every bone aches.

Subsequently I slept until mid day on the 2nd which made me very droopy all the rest of the day and today I slept in until 10am but I am starting to feel a bit better now and actually started to do some housework. I haven't gone mad though as my back has been aching badly for the last 3 days. Maybe it's the weather, or maybe I have been sleeping funny, or maybe I have been sleeping with my back in one place for too long and my body is stiff. Who knows, but hopefully it will return to normal soon. In the meantime I am doing a bit of housework and then having a sit down before I start again. It's slow going but it will get done eventually. Oh for the energy to whizz around the house as I did when I was a few years younger.

I have finally finished off my Great Grand Daughter's crochet cardigans. They were supposed be going in their Christmas stockings but I didn't make them in time. The elder one has a birthday in January so I will give them then plus the two knitted jackets that I have started for them. They are in chunky so shouldn't take me long to make.

I am not sure if I like these crochet jackets. Maybe it is the pattern style which looks a bit matinee jacket or maybe the colours are a bit busy for the style of jacket. I have used up a pack of stash wool that I have had for at least 2yrs so at least there is one pack of wool less in my stash!. The wool was some branded, but label less, sale wool from Bury market and the pattern is King Cole 3033.

I haven't made anything for the girls for a long time as I am never sure if they wear anything that I have made but as their mother was admiring my crochet when she came to visit last time I thought that I would give it one more try. If they don't wear these new woollies then I will give up altogether. I know that they wear their hats so I might include a couple of hats in their woolly pile.

I am now going to tackle putting the throws back on the sofas and cushion covers on the cushions. Everything has to get washed when Buster has been as he moults everywhere. I think that there is just enough time to fit in a cup of coffee before I tackle this.

Christmas Projects photos

I promised that I would show the finished presents that I made for Christmas. As I have very little else to show you today I thought that now was the time to show and tell.

The first is a crochet jacket that I made for my friend Sylvia. I started off by using a pattern that I had but decided that the stitch was too loose. Sylvia likes to wear long jackets in place of a coat when the weather gets a bit warmer so I improvised this jacket for her. I used 5 x 200 gram balls of James C Brett Marble chunky which is a favourite of mine as although it is chunky it doesn't work up to heavy in a finished jacket. Sylvia has christened this her Jacob's Coat of Many Colours.

The next is a crochet sweater sweater for my Sister in Law. I used a pattern called Sophie from the Patons Crochet Inspirations Book 3 that I bought from Purplelinda. I also bought the 8 x 100 grams of Patons cotton DK in Navy from there also. The camera flash makes it look lighter than it actually is. I haven't got a photo of it in wear but I am assured that the cowl collar fits lovely. It looked a bit big to me when I was making it. I got her a tight navy long sleeved T shirt in navy to wear underneath it.

The beige is the Everyday Cardi by Robyn Chachula from the Sept-Oct 2010 Crochet Today magazine. It was a very fast cardi to make up and I used 4 x 100 gram balls of King Cole Bamboo DK cotton in a camelly beige. I either got the cotton from Texere or Purplelinda. I hadn't realized that the 'raglan' pattern stitch continued down the fronts and back. It is made top down so grew very quickly.I made this for Renee, my younger niece's mother in law. She is the lady who made me the lovely picture of the miniature scarf on tiny knitting needles that I showed you on one of my earlier post.

The black cardigan is for my younger niece. She wears a lot of black as she has to appear in court a lot. On the right side of the bench I must hastily explain so needs subdued colours for that. This pattern comes from a Rowan book that I borrowed from my elder niece. I can't remember it's title except that the cardigan is called Thea and is on the Ravelry data base. I used 10 x 50 grams of Patons Diploma DK from Purplelinda. The pattern stated Kid Soft which is I think an aran thickness but as my niece does not like anything fluffy I used DK. I had to knit a larger size than required and use a smaller needle. It was a bit like using the stitches of one pattern size but the length of the size I was supposed to be making. I only wished that I had written down what I did as my niece liked it and I have a feeling that she would like the same or something similar. I have ordered some charcoal grey in the same wool to make her something in the near future.

Today Buster appears a bit better although he was a bit poorly again last night. Another quick dash outside. The pup is a lot better but now Skye has started with it. I am keeping Buster for another couple of days in case the dogs keep passing the bug around between themselves. Buster is getting a bit sick of me now as he is used to long walks every day and I can only take him for a short one in my scooter. We can't get into the woodland because of the styles and also the hilly muddy terrain. Even though I can walk short distances I don't fancy slipping and sliding my way in all the mud down there.

I am sending Good Wishes to all for 2011. Quite a few bloggers and partners and some of my personal friends have had health problems this year. Some quite serious, some inconvenient mobility wise. I won't name you but you know who you are and so I am praying that 2011 is a better year health wise for you and your loved ones.

I won't be out celebrating the New Year. I haven't done that since I was much younger. I prefer to watch it on the TV and raise a glass to the New Year and then put my fingers in my ears for all the noisy cannon type fireworks that my neighbour likes to let off until the wee small hours. I don't want to be a party pooper and I think that it is lovely to have fireworks but surely after a half hour of booms we have all got the message that the New Year is here. Gosh I am a proper Grumpy Old Lady ;-)

This New Year will no doubt be let in by Buster as he will be the first to come over my threshold although technically it should be the front door. In years past we always used to put the black cat Nelson out of the door and then let him in again as black cats are supposed to be lucky. He was never very imoressed by that although it must have been lucky for him as he lived to be 19 yrs old. My son could be the first person in at the front door (apart from myself) in the New Year when he comes to pick up Buster.

As for New Year resolutions. Hmm I will have to think about that. More crochet perhaps? Now that would be an easy one to keep!